AT&T; Canada, Canada's largest competitor to the incumbent telecom companies, announced today that it has attained Level 3 for Business Excellence in the National Quality Institute's Progressive Excellence Program (PEP).

The NQI PEP for Business Excellence provides organizations four stages of accomplishment on their quality journey. Level 3 for Business Excellence in the PEP represents a strong commitment to continuous improvement and positive results from the implementation of a strategic focus on excellence by AT&T;
Canada.

In its assessment of AT&T; Canada's quality management system, the NQI cited the following strengths within the organization:

Clear evidence of leadership commitment and involvement in the quality management system;
Highly effective communication processes;
Evidence of employee involvement in planning;
Company wide awareness of the importance of customer focus;
An integrated approach and alignment of the employee role in providing customer support.
"Our view is that AT&T; Canada has in place a quality system that now serves as a platform to lead to significant operational results and outcomes in the next 12 to 18 months," said Dan Corbett, President and CEO, National Quality Institute.

"The NQI's independent assessment and positive feedback reflect highly on our efforts to instill quality in all of our processes as well as our commitment to provide excellent service to our customers," said John MacDonald, President and COO, AT&T; Canada. "This serves as a good benchmark to move forward with our quality initiatives and continue to improve the AT&T; Canada experience for all our stakeholders."

About AT&T; Canada:

AT&T; Canada is the country's largest competitor to the incumbent telecom companies. With over 18,700 route kilometers of local and long haul broadband fiber optic network, world class managed service offerings in data, Internet, voice and IT Services, AT&T; Canada provides a full range of integrated communications products and services to help Canadian businesses communicate
locally, nationally and globally. Please visit AT&T; Canada's web site, www.attcanada.com for more information about the Company.

About NQI:

The National Quality Institute is a not-for-profit organization that
provides strategic focus and direction for Canadian organizations to achieve excellence, enabling Canada to set the standard for quality and healthy workplace practices throughout the world.